The White House Needs a New Privacy Officer

TODAY'S TOP PARAGRAPH: A White House Deputy CTO is stepping down after one year on the job. The FCC is extending the deadline for net neutrality reply comments until Sept. 15. And Sen. Wyden is pushing for updated privacy rights.

TOP NEWS

DEPUTY CTO STEPS DOWN: Nicole Wong, a former Twitter and Google lawyer, stepped down Friday as the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer handling privacy issues. One of the main authors of the White House's "Big Data" Report, Wong returned to California after one year on the job.

Her departure leaves an important privacy job open at the White House as the Commerce Department begins work on comprehensive privacy legislation. The ACLU's Christopher Soghoian suggested the White House should pick a technical expert instead of another lawyer.

WYDEN WANTS TO UPDATE PRIVACY RIGHTS: The Oregon Democrat argued Friday that the "third-party doctrine" is obsolete and that constitutional rights still apply when people share information with a business.

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"It is time to recognize that when people provide information to a particular company, with an agreement that the information will not be made public, those people have not waived their privacy rights. I believe it is time for policymakers and courts to make that judgment as well, " Wyden said in a speech in Portland.

He pushed for his GPS Act, which would require police to obtain a warrant to access location information.

FIVE MORE DAYS OF NET NEUTRALITY COMMENTS: The FCC has moved the deadline for reply comments on net neutrality from Sept. 10 to Sept. 15. Back in July, the agency extended the first comment period deadline for three days due to website glitches. The FCC has already received more than 1.1 million comments on the proposal, and Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he wants final rules on the books by the end of the year.

TOP LINES

Q&A WITH THE WHITE HOUSE'S NEW TECH WIZARD: "Having a multiyear project with no checks along the way and the promise of one big outcome is not a highly successful approach, in or outside government," says Mikey Dickerson, the new deputy chief information officer and administrator of the United States Digital Services Team, in a Q&A with the NYT. (Quentin Hardy, NYT)

GERMANS RECORDED CLINTON CONVERSATIONS: Germany looks a bit like a pot calling the kettle black as new reports surface that the country recorded phone conversations of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reuters)

SUPERMARKETS LIKELY HIT BY DATA HACK: Two parent companies of Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco and others announced customers' credit-card data may have been compromised during a network intrusion. (Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica)

WHY SO MANY CREDIT-CARD BREACHES?: A rundown of common questions about the spate of massive hacks at retail chains over the past year--and why criminals might think their window of opportunity is closing fast. (Brian Krebs)